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Monday, March 30, 2015

[Gluten-Free] Muffaletta Tapenade

Do you like olives? See, I'm an olive-lover. But in my experience, you either love 'em or hate 'em. And when I first met Patrick, he hated 'em. The first time he ate my mom's arroz con pollo he ate everything, except the olives. But I wasn't shocked by it. I've been dealing with olive-haters my entire life. Like my cousin Katie. Oh brother. If you sit next to her at Sunday lunch, you are definitely going to find some extra olives on your plate that just somehow magically appeared. Out of thin air... hmmm...

But as for Patrick, I quickly overlooked his opposition to olives. It was easy, he was pretty cute. And hating olives wasn't a deal-breaker in my book. It's not like he was a Georgia Bulldog and I was a Florida Gator. Now, that's a no-go. No, this olive-difference worked. We could be soul mates with diverse olive opinions. It would make us a unique couple. You know, that whole 'opposites attract' thing. I liked the idea! But one day, my vision of us walking into the sunset while holding firm to our olive diversity was shattered. All because of a muffaletta.

It wasn't long after we got married -- we were visiting Patrick's family and they decided to make a delicious lunch of muffalettas. It was then that I learned of my husband's love for the traditional Cajun sandwich. But do you know what's in a muffaletta?? Sure there's delicious sliced meat and melty cheese. But the one distinct factor that makes a muffaletta a muffaletta is the olive spread. OLIVE SPREAD. Um, hello? I thought he hated olives. Was my husband a closet olive-lover? Would this change our whole marriage? I had to find out.

As it turns out, Patrick confessed to me that he loved olive spread, but when it came to whole olives, he was a little less inclined. But as the years have gone on, I've noticed less and less olives left on his plate (unless he was sitting next to Katie, of course). Now olives, even whole ones, are fair game. In fact, olives are one of Patrick's favorite additions to our antipasto platters. Our olive opinions have finally aligned. Now we can live happily every after.

So this recipe for Muffaletta Tapenade is dedicated to my husband and our melodramatic olive journey. All I have to say is...

Patrick, Olive You :)

[Gluten-Free] Muffaletta
Tapenade

For our Mardi Gras party this year I wanted to
serve something like a deconstructed muffaletta. Instead of a meaty sandwich
with olive spread, I spiced up our meat and cheese platter with this delicious tapenade.
Everyone loved it! I’m definitely making this again next year.

Makes 1 ½ cups

1 (10 ounce) jar of green olives with pimientos,
drained

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons diced celery

1 tablespoon drained capers

1 tablespoon chopped parsley, plus more for
garnish

1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

To serve:

Hard salami, cut into thin slices

Provolone cheese, cut into thin squares

Gluten-free crackers

Place the olives, red wine vinegar, celery,
capers, parsley, garlic, oregano, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and
black pepper into a food processor. Process to combine until everything is
mixed but still chunky. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Then, with the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil. Mix until
everything is combined. Keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. The longer it
sits the better it tastes!

To serve: Place a teaspoon of tapenade on each
cracker. Top with a slice of salami, provolone cheese and then a leaf of
parsley. Serve immediately.

Or you can serve it DIY style on a platter.
Then, you don’t have to worry about the crackers getting soggy!